Gordon Parks
(American, 1912-2006)
"Nudes"
suite of twelve iris prints on watercolor paper
including fived dated 1999: "Awakening", "Contentment", "Affaire d'Amour", "Moonlit", and "Loneliness"; four dated 1995 from 1967 transparencies: "Despair", "Yearning", "Dawn Breaks", and "Child Stirring"; and three dated 1995 from earlier transparencies: "Day Dreamer", "Valleys and Coves", and "A Star for Noon".
Each unframed.

Provenance: Purchased from the artist.

These images exist in their own longing.
My mind’s eye found them waiting,
Laden with the scent of mystery.
Having stumbled upon their presence,
I began looking for secrets.
Soon, things were dissolving
Into the kind of geography
Where only imagination roams.
Gordon Parks

The twelve stunning — and rare — unframed nudes offered here reveal Gordon Parks' continuous exploration of perspective, lighting, and form, with each photograph serving as a sophisticated experiment of composition and technique. They were a part of a larger group of images – 15 nudes and 35 abstracts - intended for a traveling museum exhibition entitled “Images from the Soul”. A large coffee table book was also in the works before Parks' untimely and sudden death halted the project.

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